No charges planned in UH hazing case

School has refused to say whether the students are expelled

Prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against members of a University of Houston fraternity that was accused in a hazing episode last March, according to a letter from a UH attorney to the state attorney general's office.

After reviewing results of an investigation by university police, the Harris County District Attorney's Office "declined to file charges in the case," the university said Wednesday in a letter to the attorney general. The letter was signed by Eric D. Bentley, associate general counsel.

"As a result, the criminal investigation conducted by the University's Police Department into the alleged hazing by members of the Sigma Chi fraternity as well as the potential criminal prosecution by the DA's Office has concluded and did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication," the letter states. UH asked the attorney general to review whether it could withhold details of its investigation under the state open records law.

The district attorney's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The UH chapter of Sigma Chi was shuttered after the allegations arose. University officials have refused to provide details, but President Renu Khator said in a statement in March that "those who engage in such reckless and immature behavior will be punished to the full extent of the law and in accordance with University policies."

"Let me be clear, hazing is a criminal act, and consent is not a defense," her statement said. "Failure to report hazing also is a criminal offense and a violation of University policy."

The school has refused to say whether it expelled the five students. It suspended them in March and threatened to expel them, depending on the findings of the investigation.

In May, the Sigma Chi International Fraternity announced that it had decided to close its UH chapter until at least the summer of 2019.

"The action follows the consideration of concerns regarding the health of the chapter, namely that its members were not living up to the high ideals of the organization," the organization stated at the time.

Benjamin Wermund covers higher education for the Houston Chronicle, reporting on universities and colleges in Southeast Texas and across the state. Before coming to Houston, Ben covered K-12 education in Austin and 13 other Central Texas districts for the Austin American-Statesman, where he had been a reporter since Sept. 2011. Prior to that, he was a reporter for the Big Bend Sentinel in Marfa, Texas, and a stringer for Thomson Reuters. A Leander native, he graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was managing editor of The Daily Texan.